Feb. 20, 2017

From the Mouth of Babes

So I moved from the part of the United States called "the deep south" to what people call "the mid-atlantic" or more specific the state of Delaware. Just to be honest, I never ever dreamed that I would be living and working in Delaware. But now that it is a reality, I can say without hesitation that I really like this place and I really miss my kids.

As a matter of fact both my wife and I miss our children and grand children very much. That being said, we don't miss an opportunity to talk to them by phone and with Facetime we can see them as we talk to them. I suppose the hardest thing about seeing them when we talk by phone is not being able to gather our children and grand children up in our arms.

Since living here in Delaware we have had a couple of our kids fly up for a visit. The excitement that comes from knowing their visit is eminent is almost more than we can bear. That brings me to the subject of this reflection.

My son recently booked a flight from his home in the deep south to spend a weekend with his dad in Delaware. To say the least, I was very excited with my anticipation of his arrival. We planned to spend our Saturday in Washington, D.C. taking in some of the sights of our nation's capital. To make our trip together a little more interesting train tickets were secured so we wouldn't have to drive or find places to park.

That particular weekend my wife had booked a flight to go celebrate a family birthday leaving me to have some alone time with my soon arriving son. Now that he is raising his own family, it is fun to watch him navigate through some of the obstacles being a parent often affords him. Once he arrived it did not take very long before he had to check-in with his family letting them know that he had arrived safely.

Presently, between my wife and I we have five grand children, a boy and four girls. My son's daughter is his oldest. She is quite a girl but of course a grand father would think that way because, well, it's true! This reflection is about that which is voiced by grand children. As I have watched children play on public playgrounds I don't think I have ever witnessed them becoming cross with one another. That's not to say that sometimes that happens but for very young children not so much.

After a fun day in D.C. we took advantage of sleeping in the next morning. After breakfast it wasn't long before my son was communicating with his family by phone. With the touch of a button the phone call became a video call so he could see his family while he spoke to them. It was a regular kind of conversation. His wife and children wanted to see their husband and father as much as my son wanted to see his wife and children. 

My six year old grand daughter took control of the phone and for the next few minutes she told her daddy just about everything she had done at school, at day care and just about everything else she could think of to talk about. As the phone conversation began to wind down all of a sudden I heard it. I had no idea that what I had just heard was going to impact me the way it did. 

I have discovered that wind happens when it happens and I don't have any say as to when it happens. I'm thinking that is why Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the wind that blows from where, we do not know and to where we do not know. It just blows and from the lips of my grand daughter the Spirit of God began to blow. 

As my son was encouraging his daughter to finish the conversation so he and I could begin our activities for the day I heard her say, "Daddy, I love you so much I just can't hang up!" I sat there in perfect awe of what I had just heard and my heart was melting. I thought to myself, that is exactly what Abba says to each and everyone of us,"I love you so much I just can't let go of you."

I have thought a lot about the wisdom that came from my six year old grand daughter that morning spoken from the deep south and heard in Delaware. It was a simple yet profound message about the most important word in any language. What word you ask? Love!